London, spring 1940. The ailing Neville Chamberlain is still Prime Minister, Hitler has rampaged through Poland and Czechoslovakia, and Winston Churchill is First Lord of The Admiralty, licking his wounds after his attempt to thwart the Nazi occupation of Norway.

Former intelligence agent Stella Fry is working in a quiet backwater of the war effort, a documentary film unit. She is headhunted by MI5 after a German prisoner of war named Fassbinder is murdered in a high security interrogation unit. Why Stella? The main suspect in the killing is Robert Handel, Stella’s erstwhile colleague at Oxford. Also working “off the books” for MI5 is a rumpled but effective former colleague of Stella’s, Harry Fox, now scratching a living as a private investigator. He and Stella’s earlier encounter can be found in Midnight in Vienna (2024).

The powers that be believe that Handel has fled to Paris, where his sister runs a bookshop. Stella is despatched to find him, and this allows Jane Thynne to pen a few evocative pages describing the French capital on the brink of a national disaster, but still behaving with its customary panache and insouciance. After a brief meeting with a certain Noel Coward, secretly working for British Intelligence, Stella, rather than finding Handel, is found by him, as he is now deeply embedded with the fledgling French resistance movement, already organising itself for the inevitable arrival of the Nazis. He denies any responsibility for Fassbinder’s murder and, after a passionate evening in Handel’s room, the couple awake to the news that Hitler has invaded Belgium, Luxemburg and Holland. Handel bundles Stella onto a crowded train bound for the Channel, and amid crowds of terrified refugees, she eventually arrives in Dover.

Meanwhile, Harry Fox has become entangled with a classic femme fatale who calls herself Lisselotte Edelman. It could be said that Harry is not a perfect gentleman for, while Lisselotte is gently snoring in his bed after a passionate encounter, he investigates her handbag, where, beneath the usual feminine fripperies, he finds a handgun, an Enfield No.3 MK1 .38 calibre, the same gun that shot Harry is also a veteran of The Great War, and sometimes his dreams are shot through with the horrors that his eighteen-year-old self endured at Mametz Wood.

I must declare an interest here. I am a sucker for novels set during WW2 and, all the more so if they are grounded in London. I ‘missed’ the war by a considerable distance, being born in 1947, but my childhood was shot through with reminders. I recall playing with old ration books and remember my father being laid low with occasional bouts of the malaria he had contracted in North Africa. In my teens I admired the old soldiers who had survived the Great War. They are all long since gone, as are all but a few of the men of my father’s generation. Jane Thynne captures the uncertain times of the early 1940s with uncanny accuracy, and she can stand shoulder to shoulder with fellow contemporary writers like John Lawton who have brought those troubled times so vividly to life.

Jane Thynne weaves a complex web of assumed identities, the dark arts of espionage and complex international politics, in particular the ambiguous relationship between Britain and the United States. She still finds space for some Brief Encounter-style romance, and some delightful cultural references, my favourite being the reference to a quiet Cotswold railway station (think a poet who died at Arras in 1917) Appointment in Paris is a delightful and complex journey into a fascinating period of our history. It was published by Quercus on 4th September.

It is May 1940 and the war is drawing ever closer to Great Britian. Stella Kay is now working in the film industry and Harry Fox as a private investigator but they are drawn back together to solve the murder of a German prisoner held in Trent Park, a stately home converted to house German prisoners of war and secretly record their conversations to gather intelligence. The highly secret nature of their work has them investigating different areas, with Stella’s fluency in German involving her in the spying directly and Harry searching London for leads, but their paths cross and their joint efforts lead to the answer.

I really enjoyed this book and couldn’t put it down. Both of the main characters are very well drawn, likeable, capable and believable, and their relationship is interesting but secondary to the plot. I also really enjoyed the occasional appearance of real life figures such as Noel Coward, Joe Kennedy and Agatha Christie who were famous at the time and pass through the story very well.

Thrillers set in World War II are hardly unusual but few that I have read have managed to evoke the atmosphere quite so well. It’s easy to view it through the lens of what we know came to happen but Jane Thynne manages to portray very well the spiralling fear and uncertainty of the population as the Phoney War comes to an end and Hitler’s Blitzkrieg stretches across Europe. Events are speeding up and war is becoming inevitable, the Chamberlain government is faltering and our Allies are under threat – all of this is set as background and the obviously thorough research builds a very real world without ever overwhelming the narrative.

I haven’t yet read the first of this series, Midnight in Vienna, but I will definitely be going back to do so and look forward to more to come.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review. This has been posted to Waterstones, Goodreads and Amazon.

Firstly I am absolutely obsessed with the cover of this book!

This was my first read by Jane Thynne and it didnt disappoint

It’s not just a romance but also a story of mystery and survival. Readers who enjoy history with a strong emotional thread will find it engaging.

Easy summary:

Romantic, emotional, and historical.

Mix of mystery and family secrets.

Beautiful Paris setting.

Good for fans of love stories set in wartime.

Appointment in Paris is set in 1940. Britain is anticipating imminent German invasion, and a German POW is found murdered in the grounds of former stately home Trent Park, which is now being used to detain German POWs and monitor their conversations for useful intelligence.

The death of the German is accompanied by the disappearance of one of the covert listeners at Trent Park, and the incident sparks concern that national security may be being breached. Private investigators Harry Fox and Stella Fry are enlisted to track down the missing listener and avert a national crisis .

I haven't read the previous book featuring the pairing of Fox and Fry, but I found them instantly likeable and believable and felt invested in the relationship between the two. The book, part murder mystery and part espionage thriller, is also packed with well-researched and fascinating detail from the period, and I felt immersed in the 1940s setting and as engrossed by the historic characters and events as I was by the main plot.

It is April 1940, and Britain is in great turmoil. Chamberlain's government is faltering and Winston Churchill is waiting to step into the breech, and a German invasion may be only weeks away.

Stella Fry returns home from her work in the blackout to find a crowd has outside her flat. She is told that a young woman in the building has had a fatal accident. The dead woman is called 'Stella Fry'. Outraged, Stella suspects that this is the work of her erstwhile friend, Harry Fox. But why on earth would he go to such lengths to contact her?

Cue Harry Fox, a former MI5 Watcher, now suspended. He is desperate to assist the war effort but he's over the conscription age. Then his former boss gets in touch with a job for him, to track down a missing man. But, he stipulates, it must also involve Harry's former associate, Stella Fry

A body, wearing the uniform of a Luftwaffe captain, has been found in the grounds of Trent Park - a stately home and now a prison to house high level German POWs. Trent Park's true purpose, however, is intelligence, gathered covertly from prisoners by secret listeners.

The morning after the discovery of the body, one of the listeners goes missing, along with a gun from the firing range. Horrified that this could blow the highly confidential operation wide open, the missing man must be tracked down.

Appointment In Paris is a superb read. The research is outstanding and when I was reading it I believed I was in 1940! It had me hooked from the start. This was the first time that I have read the authors books but I will definitely buy some of her previous titles. Strongly recommended.

Sequel to the gripping Midnight in Vienna set in 1940s London, resourceful and quietly beautiful Stella Fry is now working for a documentary film company when her safety is threatened and she finds herself recruited to the Top Secret Trent Park (near Cockfosters ) listening to German prisoners of war at a listening station. A suspicious death leads her to Paris just before it falls to the German occupation where she meets up with a passionate ex from Oxford who might be the murderer. Who can she trust? And will she escape Paris before the invasion? With real historical characters (the deceptively witty Noel Coward in Paris, Maxwell Knight on whom ‘M’ is based, Agatha Christie in Hampstead) this spy thriller reunites Stella with the maverick ‘cynical romantic’ investigator Harry Fox As Stella searches Paris, Harry searches amongst London’s bohemian, emigre and Jewish community, meeting artists and writers, looking for spies and a murderer, Britain shifts from peace to war and the impact on daily life and relationships is profoundly changed. I look forward to the next episode in the Fox Fry adventures.

Harry Fox and Stella Fry are back, and soon find themselves immersed in a secret murder investigation. Featuring Trent Park, the top-secret estate used by the British to secretly spy on and record discussions between Nazi prisoners, this story does not disappoint.
I really enjoyed the historic detail, based on real recordings taken during this period, which bring the story to life. The author's research shines throughout, making this a very true to life read. The chief characters, Harry and Stella are well-written and are brought into vivid detail in the writing. I cared about them and was willing them to succeed in their investigations. The storyline is gripping and truly fascinating; I did not see what was coming at the end. A highly recommended read!

One could suggest that Jane Thynne has taken on the Cormoran Strike/Robin Ellacott vibe of Robert Galbraith fame and time-travelled back to the Second World War but that would do this new series a great disservice. Not only is the reader given plenty of meticulously researched important social and political details of the time, some of which may come as a surprise, but the novels are also extremely well-paced and very atmospheric. It’s the summer of 1940; Britain is about to experience the Blitz and London is tensely waiting for the inevitable.

Private investigators Harry Fox and Stella Fry are very believable. As they work to find out who has shot a German prisoner of war without revealing the ingenious bugging systems that allow the British to gain valuable intelligence on German matters of war, there’s clearly unspoken mutual attraction as well as irritation with and frustration over each other’s behaviour. Their working relationship doesn’t stop other liaisons which move the plot on very effectively. If you like characters who can be both feisty and laconic, you will enjoy Fox and Fry’s company. Coupled with the very interesting historical details and vivid settings, they make ‘Appointment in Paris’ a very enjoyable read. I recommend reading the first in the series, ‘Midnight in Vienna’, before beginning this novel and I’m looking forward to seeing where the author takes the courageous pair next!

My thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

I’ve rattled through both books in this series over the last few days, both excellent thrillers. Appointment in Paris is set in early 1940 - just before the German Blitzkrieg and allows for both domestic and international intrigue (Paris, obviously). Ostensibly about a murder inquiry at an internment centre for German PoW, this spirals into wider geopolitics whilst keeping a pacy focus. Fox and Fry really come alive off the page, the novel keeps them apart for most of it with some wider love interest but the pairing are excellently drawn. There’s a real sense of place and capturing of a moment when the situation could fall either way. Excellent, highly recommended.

A prison for high ranking German prisoners of war, Trent Park was also a key place for gathering information with bugging devices in every room and in the basement every conversation was monitored and transcribed by a team of listeners in the hope that information might be gained that could assist the allies

When one of the listening staff goes missing on the same night a Luftwaffe pilot is discovered dead in the grounds, former MI5 agent turned private eye Harry Fox and Stella Fry could both prove useful.

Appointment in Paris blends espionage, romance, and intrigue as the war effort continues and Harry Fox and Stella Fry return for a second time. I loved the characters, I loved the drama and I loved the history. The storyline flowed and after the ending I'm really hoping there's more to come.

My thanks to Quercus Books and NetGalley for the early read, all opinions expressed are my own.

This was a really good spy thriller covering an oft neglected part of Ww2. Set in London and Paris during the phony war when there were quite a few refugees from Germany and Eastern Europe, a murder takes place at an officers PoW camp in north London. The chief suspect absconds and Stella Fry and Harry Fox, budding secret service agents investigate. What follows is a twisty tale before the murderer is found and the security at this detention centre is preserved. The book builds up the mounting tension as a German invasion is expected and focuses on the growing phenomenon of women being used in espionage. They were often better listeners and less was expected of a woman so it was easier to hide in plain sight. The ending gave a promise of further investigations by this pair as the war progressed.

April 1940, and Britain is in turmoil. Chamberlain's government is faltering, and a German invasion may be only weeks away.

A body, wearing the uniform of a Luftwaffe captain, is found in the grounds of Trent Park - a stately home and now a prison to house high level German POWs. Trent Park's true purpose, however, is intelligence, gathered covertly from prisoners by secret listeners.

The morning after the discovery of the body, one of the listeners goes missing, along with a gun from the firing range. Horrified that this could blow the highly confidential operation wide open, the missing man must be tracked down.

Cue Harry Fox, a former MI5 Watcher, now suspended. He is desperate to assist the war effort but he's over the conscription age. Then his former boss gets in touch with a job for him, to track down the missing man. But, he stipulates, it must also involve Harry's former associate, Stella Fry.

Stella returns home from work in the blackout to find a crowd outside her flat. She is told that a young woman in the building has had a fatal accident. The dead woman is called Stella Fry. Outraged, Stella suspects that this is the work of her erstwhile friend, Harry Fox. But why on earth would he go to such lengths to contact her?

Appointment In Paris is a great read. It had me hooked from the start.

Fans of Harry and Stella will love this new adventure.

"Appointment in Paris" opens more than a year after the events of "Midnight in Vienna". It's Spring 1940 and Harry and Stella, their job done, have gone their separate ways. Harry is still suspended from his MI5 job, and is surviving as a private detective, and Stella is working for the GPO film unit. Britain is living in fear of Germany invading, and is doing all it can to gather information on when it will happen. High-ranking German POW's are being held in Trent Park - a stately home now used as a prison and where intelligence is gathered covertly from prisoners by secret listeners. When one of the POWs is found murdered, and a listener goes missing, the fear is that vital information is about to be passed to Germany. So Maxwell Knight, Harry's former boss, recruits Harry to track down the listener, while insisting Stella also do her bit by investigating the murder.

And so, Stella, through some devious subterfuge by Harry, is drawn into the case - one which rapidly develops into a more sinister and complex mystery. She goes undercover at Trent Park and soon realises it houses more than just prisoners of war, and that she has a personal connection to at least one person there. At the same time, Harry slowly closes in on the missing listener. Despite the title of the book, much of the story takes places in London, but her investigations do take Stella to Paris, when it becomes clear the murder and the missing man cases are connected. Paris just before the German invasion is nicely depicted while Harry's own trails around London are also wonderfully painted, with black-outs, pubs and bohemian artists.

Trent Park was a real place, and the details of how it operated, are fascinating - the latest technology was used to listen in on conversations, and native German-speaking listeners were used to transcribe those conversations, many of which were graphic and highly disturbing. The effect on the listeners, including Stella, makes for harrowing reading.

Fans of the first book will be happy to learn that familiar faces are here - Stella's actress friend Evelyn, and her brother Tom and Maxwell Knight all have a part to play. We also learn a bit more about Stella and Harry. He is now 41, and too old to be called up, so his frustration and guilt about not doing his bit are clear. His skills as a detective, however shine through. Stella, likewise, is unsure how best she can play her part but her feisty and determined character makes her a formidable opponent. Further adventures of the pair would be interesting.

Highly recommended for fans of Alex Gerlis, Deborah Swift and SJ Parris.

I love Jane Thynne and this doesn’t disappoint.

Stella Fry and Harry Fox return following their adventure in Midnight in Vienna. This time they end up working together again to find a murderer who has absconded from a top secret facility at the start of World War II. The resolution to the mystery surprised me, Stella is a compelling heroine, and the novel has the creeping, tense atmosphere of the start of the war when there were fears Britain would be invaded shortly. I definitely hope there’s more books in this series.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.